Author's Note: After this chapter, I have two more chapters left and the epilogue for you guys. (I'm also adding a little extra chapter after the epilogue explaining how Percy knew how to suddenly have sex with guys. I wanted to keep a secret, but it could be considered a plot hole without answering it which bothers me.)

Anyway, sorry this book wasn't as great as the first (I truly hated this book and how it turned out), From now on, I am never writing two Percico Stories at the same time ever again...

Note: Thank you to my friend for editing and beta reading my chapters and all of that. I really appreciate it!

Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying, breakups, sexual themes (I'll add more along the way)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic… Though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!

The Violin That Started it Again

Author: Loving Healer

Part 4: Percy Jackson & Silena Beauregard

Chapter Thirty-One

Percy Jackson

Annabeth nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "I see. That's... interesting to say the least."

I sighed. "Yeah I know. It's just one confusing thing after another. I would ask him what he means by it, but I don't even know how to reach him."

"Maybe he meant for it to be that way," Annabeth remarked. "Maybe he wanted to keep it a secret forever. Hopefully, your mom will know what he means when you tell her his message."

"Yeah," I muttered. "Maybe."

"Well, always look on the good side. At least you found your phone." Annabeth offered me a smile which I returned.

I shrugged, adding a small chuckle. "I guess that's true."

I had spent the whole walk over to the ice cream store about the "complex answer" that I told Annabeth about over the phone about the location of my phone. I had thought that it was a long story, but either the ice cream store was really far or my story was just shorter than I expected it to be.

Maybe that was why Annabeth took so long on getting me and I ended up turning into a philosopher.

It was silent between us for awhile, but it was anything but uncomfortable and tense. The wind blew through our hair and clothes, tangling Annabeth's hair and making mine messier than usual. Leaves from nearby planters fell down as they became scattered all over the floor. The leaves on the ground were disorganized, but they still had this beauty to them. Kind of like Nico's disheveled hair I suppose.

"So," Annabeth started, "what are you going to do about Nico?"

I shrugged, shoving my hands onto my jacket pockets. "I don't even know where to start. Do I go to Nico first? Or do I go to Silena first?"

Annabeth frowned deep in concentration. "Well, it depends. Do you want answers first or do you want complications settled?"

"Answers first," I replied almost immediately. "Because then the complications wouldn't be so complicated anymore."

Annabeth grinned. "Good choice, Seaweed Brain. Nico's intelligence is starting to run off on you."

"What about your intelligence?"

She scoffed. "Oh, Percy, please. I think you became stupider when we dated, but now that you're with Nico, you've become ten times smarter."

I laughed lightly. "Oh really? I'm not even dating Nico though."

She waved her hand dismissively. "You will be very soon, Percy." Annabeth punched my shoulder as a friendly gesture. "Also, since you want answers first, it's better if you go to Silena since she was the one who initiated the kiss, not Nico."

"Did Nico..." I gulped out of sheer nervousness. "Did Nico kiss her back?"

Annabeth shook her head much to my relief. "Silena told me he didn't. I'm sure Nico is still attached to you." She grinned. "I doubt anything will keep you apart for very long."

I smiled softly. "I hope not." I ran a hand a hand through my hair. "I feel like I've been a mess ever since the breakup."

"At least you don't look like a zombie anymore," Annabeth remarked, earning her a roll of my eyes.

"You should've seen the constant dreams I had last week." I sighed deeply at the many memories I shared with Nico over the summer. "Actually, scratch that. I don't want you seeing me giving Nico a... Actually let's not get into detail."

Annabeth made a face. "Yeah, let's not get into detail." She shivered at the mental image I accidentally put into her mind. "God, I can't even imagine Nico doing such a... thing."

I laughed heartily. "Imagining him doing it is the best thing."

Annabeth shoved me so hard I was afraid I would fall into the nearby fountain.

"Don't ever bring that up about Nico ever again!"

"Why are we not bringing me up anymore?"

Annabeth and my gaze shot toward a very enthusiastic Silena Beauregard, a laughing Tyson Jackson, and a very exhausted Nico di Angelo.

Annabeth and I exchanged glances in search of an answer to his question.

"Nothing?" I answered nervously.

Nico crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his dark brown eyes at Annabeth and me. "That didn't sound very convincing."

Annabeth chuckled softly. "I'm not sure you want to know the actual answer, Nico."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I really not want to?"

Annabeth and I nodded simultaneously.

Nico smiled with a shrug of his shoulders. "Whatever you say."

"Oh!" Silena exclaimed suddenly. "You guys should've seen Nico when I made him eat every single flavor of ice cream in the store!"

"No, actually, you don't really want to see it." Nico exasperatedly sighed. "I regret everything."

"I regret nothing!" Silena giggled, jumping around excitedly. "We should go on the Ferris wheel!" She stared with wide, wondrous eyes toward the giant, towering wheel in the middle of the mall. It was growing to be evening now, and the lights installed into the Ferris wheel began to change and blink, showing patterns just like a light show.

Tyson gasped. "I want to go on the Ferris wheel!"

"See?" Silena grinned like an excited child-pretty much like Tyson. "We should go!"

"Then who's paying?" Annabeth set her hands upon her hips.

Silena raised her hand with our hesitation, and everyone's eyes shot toward her.

"Oh no you're not." I stepped forward.

"This is just like the restaurant bill." At this point, Nico seemed like he was ready to go home and call it a day.

"Are you going to pay for all of us?" Annabeth arched a challenging eyebrow.

"Of course!" Silena smiled innocently.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Look"-he ran a hand through his soft, dark brown hair-"can we not have this argument again over who's playing and just get this over with?"

"Why don't we just split the bill?" Annabeth suggested. "It would be easier than just fighting over who pays for all of us. There's five of us, so one person pays for one person, one person pays for two people, and that one last person has to pay a bit extra. Or we can all just pay for ourselves of Nico agrees and then someone pays for Tyson." Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait a minute, we have an advantage since children are free and Tyson is young enough to count as a child. So I guess there's only four people. So that would mean-"

"Annabeth?" Nico interrupted, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets once a harsh breeze rushed by.

"Yeah?"

"Silena already paid." He nodded his head over to Silena who was grinning at the man in charge of the Ferris wheel.

My eyes widened. "How did she-"

"No idea," Nico cut me off, crossing his arms across his chest. "I guess when it comes to paying for other people, Silena is first in line. And I mean literally. There's no one in line for the Ferris wheel but her."

I could faintly see Silena pivot on the tips of her feet and wave at us, gesturing for us to approach her. She was grinning from ear to ear, but I couldn't help but feel bad for letting her pay for every one of us-except Tyson, I guess.

Annabeth groaned. "Of course she already paid for us. I mean, why wouldn't she?" Annabeth jogged over to Silena's location, scolding her for not splitting the bill fairly with everyone else. I could faintly see Silena laughing and running the back of her neck as Tyson began to run after them toward the Ferris wheel.

Nico glanced over at me with an unreadable expression. "Well, I guess we're going now. I'm afraid of heights actually."

I chuckled, attempting to keep the nervousness out of my voice for being left with Nico alone. "Yeah, so am I."

Nico managed a small smile. "I guess we're both in the same page then. Should we try to bail out of it?"

I shrugged my stiff shoulders. "I'm sure Silena is stubborn enough to make us go on it."

"Too stubborn if you ask me," Nico mumbled, shifting his gaze toward the ground.

I offered him a sympathetic smile. "When you know Silena, you're just forced to deal with her stubbornness."

Nico's smile widened. He shoved his hands into his back pockets and locked eyes with me. "Should you even be talking about stubbornness?"

I scoffed, and my smile soon became one of amusement. "Are you suggesting that I'm stubborn?"

"Are you even asking me that question?" Nico arched an eyebrow, disbelief evident in his voice. "You, Perseus Jackson, are the most stubborn person I have ever met."

I placed a hand over my heart. "Oh, Nico, you flatter me too much. I'm even more stubborn than Silena? How wonderful of you to compliment me in such a manner."

Nico blinked blankly at me for about two seconds before bursting out into laughter. "I never even knew you could sound so sophisticated!" When our laughter died down, he sighed contentedly. "Since when did you learn such big words?"

"I could be smart!" I protested, resulting in a chuckle from Nico. The more I talked to Nico, the more I realized just how much I truly missed him. Life without Nico di Angelo would just be a complete disaster like it was before.

"Guys!" I faintly caught Silena's voice. "Are you guys going to come with us?!"

"Yeah we are," I yelled back before turning to Nico. Nico nodded at me and we both proceeded to approach Silena, Annabeth, and Nico at the entrance to the first cart of the Ferris wheel.

"Is this all?" The person in charge of the Ferris wheel raised an eyebrow and assessed our group. He must've been confused about us hanging out together: An emo-looking guy; a wealthy, cheerful girl with all the latest styles; a little boy who seemed too tall for his age; a girl who looked too intimidating even though she was wearing normal clothes; and then there was me. I mean, if I was that guy in charge of the Ferris wheel, I would've been confused about this unusual group as well.

"Yep!" Silena chirped, bouncing on the soles of her feet.

The two began to converse when I felt someone elbow me in my side. I furrowed my eyebrows and glanced to the side where Annabeth was giving me an expectant look.

"What?" Knowing the expression she was giving me, I knew I was supposed to do something and forgot to do it or something stupid like that.

"This is your chance!" Annabeth hissed at me, her gaze darting toward Silena and Nico for a split second before resuming its place back at me. "Don't you want to get answers from Silena as quick as you can?"

I massaged the back of my neck in hopes of relieving the tension there from the mere thought of having to interrogate one of my own friends. "I mean, yeah, I guess..."

"Then I'll help you get into a cart alone with Silena, okay?" She placed her hands on her hips, leaning her weight onto one leg.

I nodded slowly. "I don't even know what to ask her though."

Annabeth offered me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I can tell you're just nervous."

I scoffed. "You think?"

She rolled her eyes in an impatient manner. "Look," she continued in a hushed voice, "just think about what you want to know, and then form the mystery into a question. Your seaweed brain can do that, right?"

I chuckled lightly. "Yes it can."

"Good," Annabeth said. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to talk with her on the Ferris wheel. I mean, the Ferris wheel goes around really slowly about two times, and each time it goes around it stops up at the top. So, you'll be fine."

I inhaled deeply. "Alright. I think I can do this."

Her smile widened as she patted me on the shoulder. "You better be able to do it, Percy. Let me go talk to Silena so she knows she's sitting with you."

"Are you going to tell her what I want to ask her?" My eyes widened at the thought, and my face turned pale.

"Do you really think I'd do that?" Annabeth shook her head, shaking her blonde ponytail back and forth. "I'm going to be extremely vague about it. But, I'm sure Silena won't mind."

She sauntered off in the direction of Silena. I could spot Silena nodding, and Annabeth smiled at the action. I was so engrossed in trying to figure out what they were talking about until I felt something sharply hit the side of my head.

"Ow," I muttered, turning my head in the direction only to jump ten feet in the air when I saw Nico. Was he that close to me before? Oh god, I was really hoping he wasn't there when Annabeth and I were talking.

"Are you okay?" Nico tilted his head to the side in puzzlement. "You seem like something's bothering you."

I shook my head slowly, the surprise and shock slowly fading away. "I'm... I'm fine. Good god, you gave me a heart attack, Nico."

Nico laughed slightly. "I could tell." His serious demeanor soon returned. "But, are you sure nothing's wrong? What's going on in that head of yours?"

I shook my head once more. "Nothing in particular really." I inhaled sharply. "How long were you standing there?"

Nico frowned. "A few seconds after Annabeth left to talk to Silena."

I let out a long, deep breath at the relieving answer. "That's good."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Nico knit his eyebrows together in confusion, but, to my relief, he didn't comment on the subject.

Silena walked up to us with a big smile on her face. "Okay!" She clapped her hands together. "We're going to have two carts. Percy and I go in one, and Annabeth, Nico, and Tyson go in the other one. Is that okay for you guys?"

The confusion in Nico's features deepened, but he nodded nonetheless. I nodded as well, gulping at the inevitable conversation I would have to undergo with Silena. Tyson nodded readily, and I was quite surprised Tyson didn't object to the plan because I wasn't there until I saw Annabeth throw an arm around Tyson's shoulders and wink in my direction. I assumed Annabeth already thought ahead and talked to Tyson about it. She was way too smart for my own good.

"Cool!" Silena's grin brightened before the Ferris wheel worker instructed Silena and I to step carefully inside the first cart of the Ferris wheel.

Once the door closed behind me and Silena and I settled into the seats across from each other, I was suddenly aware of how small the cart was and how cold the seats were.

I chewed the inside of my cheek as Silena sighed contentedly.

If only I could be that happy right now instead of feeling so nervous, I thought to myself before Silena's eyes flickered upward to me quizzically.

Our cart shifted upward so the next cart could be open for Annabeth, Nico, and Tyson. It was then that I also realized that I had to start talking before it was too late.

Here goes nothing. I sighed mentally as Annabeth's words replayed in my head.

"Look, just think about what you want to know, and then form the mystery into a question."

And that was exactly what I was going to do.

I rested my palms against the freezing seat of the Ferris wheel cart before locking eyes with Silena's blue ones.

"Why did you kiss Nico?"